Welcome to episode 97 of Within the Trenches. A few days ago I received numerous tweets and Facebook messages asking if there was going to be a Halloween themed show. I thought about it and thought about it and finally decided I would do one. I was trying to figure out what I was going to do and a good friend of mine told me about some creepy and scary 9-1-1 calls she heard from a YouTube channel. I checked them out and they are pretty crazy. They reminded me of when I was in dispatch and the crazy stuff I would hear so I decided to use the tapes. I will give full credit to those who put the calls together below so make sure to check them out for other videos.

I want to make sure that everyone knows that I am not making light of the emergency situations. The calls are meant to educate and show the reality of 9-1-1 dispatch. Others may have a dark sense of humor and if you do well, that usually means you have worked or know someone who has come from the chair. At the end of the episode you will get to hear about some new things going on with the show and a scholarship I want to put together for the 2016 National NENA conference. I'm currently looking for sponsors so if you want in on it please let me know.

As always if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.

I am a firm believer that every person we meet, we meet for a reason. Whether it is good or bad, a blessing or a lesson, there is a reason. A few years ago I reached out to someone who would help shape the rest of my career. Although the good deed was small it changed everything and made a big impact on my life.

When I was in the last part of my dispatch career I was working on my Masters in New Media Journalism. At this time I was writing heavily and posting all kinds of personal dispatch stories to my blog. It had become pretty popular with those in the 9-1-1 community as well as the general public. People were learning and I was loving it but I felt like something was missing, I felt like I could do more. As I was riding on the popularity of my written version of Within the Trenches I was introduced to podcasting through an assignment in school. I fell in love with it and started a public safety series doing stories with dispatch, police and EMS.

From there I decided to turn my written segment into a podcast but it was going to take a little help from Kickstarter. My goal for this Kickstarter campaign was $1,500. It would pay for equipment, hosting and more. I was going strong with $606 early on but my campaign stalled and I was sure I would not make it. I had 36 hours left and I was freaking out. I was reading some 9-1-1 industry news at 9-1-1 Dispatch Magazine Online and decided I would reach out to the editor for help. I told Gary Allen that I wasn't looking for money from him. All I wanted was help getting the word out on my project. Later on that day I received a response from him saying that he loved the idea of a dispatch podcast and telling dispatch stories. He wrote up a small blurb on what I was doing and also reached out to some industry partners. In 24 hours I surpassed my campaign goal.

I can safely say that if it wasn't for Gary's help I probably would not have made it. On top of that I recently found out that one of the industry partners he reached out to was my now boss and founder of INdigital, a public safety solutions company. I thought my boss simply found me by the article that Gary put out but Gary reached out to him. It's awesome how things work out sometimes. Sadly, Gary recently passed away. He had 40 years of public safety background and my only regret is not having more of an opportunity to have him on the podcast to tell his complete story. I did get a chance to have him on an episode with me and it is included within this episode. We were experimenting with Google+ Hangouts Live so the audio sounds a little different but it is a good one nonetheless. Also towards the end there is about a minutes worth of music. The show doesn't end though, I was showing Gary a video and all you can hear is the music. So just in case you listen and wonder what is going on. Below you will find a link to the video version of episode 45 with Gary Allen. I hope you enjoy the episode and please share it.

As always if you have any questions or you would like to be a guest on the show you can email me at wttpodcast@gmail.com

Gary,

I will be forever grateful to you. Your help made a huge impact on my life. I hope I am able to leave a mark on this industry the way you did. Godspeed my friend.

Welcome to another episode of Within the Trenches. It has been almost a month since I posted the last episode but I’m back and ready to go with a long list of guests. Today’s episode will feature 911 news stories along with some tapes and a written guest blog. I’m joined today by show regular Rob “Big Mac” McMullen, Director of Vigo County 911 and 2nd VP of NENA. He’s joined by episode 94 guest Jordon, dispatcher with Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority and new to the admin team of the Facebook Fan Page.

Get ready to laugh, learn and if you would like to read and comment on Kelli's guest blog post entitled, "I was there" please click the link below. Also, there are only a few days left on the "Dispatch Love" t-shirt campaign so get yours while you can. Once it's over that's it! This is a limited edition t-shirt that cannot be found in stores.

Hello and welcome to episode 94 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver and this will be the last episode of a series of episodes that were recorded there. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting.

In this episode I got the chance to speak with Jordon and Tiffany, dispatchers with Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority out of Colorado. This was a great episode to record. We told many stories and we laughed like crazy. If you want to learn more about dispatching, the national conference and more then you need to check this one out.

As always if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.

Hello and welcome to episode 93 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting. In this episode I got the chance to speak with Andrew, an instructor with Public Safety Training Consultants.

This is a very short and sweet episode that I hope you enjoy. I usually record a longer episode but Andrew was about to give a class at the conference. I am going to get a hold of him for a much longer episode in the future so stay tuned for that.

As always if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, you can send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.

Hello and welcome to episode 92 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting. In This episode I got the chance to sit down with show regular Rob “Big Mac” McMullen the newly elected 2nd VP of NENA. This was a fun episode to record and in it we talk about a presentation we gave on text for 911. The presentation went great and Rob and I are thinking of hitting more conferences to present this.

This is a must listen! The intro alone is awesome so make sure to check it out and share! As always, if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.

Hello and welcome to episode 91 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting. In This episode I got the chance to sit down with show regular Rob “Big Mac” McMullen the newly elected 2nd VP of NENA, Ty Wooten, Education Director of NENA and Brian Tegtmeyer, who is an Education Advisory Board Member for NENA. This is an awesome episode! We share everything from the beginning of the conference up until that point of the conference. It's educational and entertaining.

As always, if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com

Hello and welcome to episode 90 of Within the Trenches. I am back from the national NENA conference that was held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. It was an excellent week of networking, learning, presenting and podcasting. In This episode I got the chance to sit down with Matt, Founder of Agency360 and sponsor of the show for the month of June.

Matt shares his story from dispatch, to becoming a police officer and ultimately starting Agency360 to help the onboarding of new dispatchers and helping to streamline your CTO program. It’s an episode you don’t want to miss! So please listen and share!

As always, if you have any questions or would like to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com.

Make sure to check out our sponsor Agency360 by clicking the image below.

Welcome back folks! This is episode 89 of Within the Trenches. In this episode I got to speak with guest regular Rob McMullen, director of Vigo County 911 out of Indiana and current North Central Region Director of NENA. We chat and listen to 9-1-1 calls including one on the late great American Dream Dusty Rhodes. We also share some information on our upcoming class at the National NENA Conference in Denver next week. It's called, "A Day In The Life of Text to 9-1-1." You don't want to miss it! If you are going to be there, make sure to look for us on Tuesday around 4 p.m.

Also make sure to check out our sponsor Agency360! Their customizable web-based field training software supports the CTO program and the on boarding of new dispatchers across the country to improve consistency, access, and efficiency in documenting their training. For more click on their image below.

Good afternoon and welcome back for episode 88 of Within the Trenches. In this episode I got the chance to speak with Theresa, a dispatcher and trainer with Greenville City PD in Greenville South Carolina. We go back and reflect on her dispatch career from the beginning up to present time as a trainer. We also dig deep into her training style and how her CTO program through Agency360 has streamlined the training process.

If you have ever wanted to be a better trainer this is the episode for you! This is a must listen so check it out and share! As always if you have any questions or want to be a guest on the show, send an email to wttpodcast@gmail.com

Make sure to check out our sponsor Agency360 by clicking the image below!